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War of words

MOST women may be physically weaker than men, but they have a formidable
weapon at their disposal: gossip. Nattering to each other in this way could be
why women form such strong social bonds, says anthropologist Nicole Hess from
the University of California at Santa Barbara.

In prehistoric times, men cooperated to hunt or see off rivals competing for
their mates. But Hess wondered what made women first form cooperative social
groups. “My feeling, growing up as a female, was that women also have strong
coalitions. They form strong friendships too.”